The Fate of RubyClan - A Fanfic Based Off A Trollfic
by a-person-who-doesnt-exist
Summary: Peppermintcrystal goes through her life as a warrior of RubyClan. Set in the world of Tainted Purification's trollfic, Hidden Prophices, not all information will adhere to canon, as very little is known about RubyClan. Rated T for possibly disturbing imagery and likely violence.
1. Chapter 1: Becoming an Apprentice

**_AN: This is probably the stupidest idea ever. But i'm doing it anyway. It's a Hidden Prophices spinoff. I do not own Warriors or Hidden Prophices._**

Her bright red eyes stared up at the Tallgem, its brilliant crystalline surface sparkling in the sunlight. She pictured herself atop the amazing ruby, watching over all of her clan. She thought Peppermintstar would make a beautiful name. But for now, she was just little six-moon-old Peppermintkit of RubyClan, waiting for Razorstar to make her an apprentice.

"When is he gonna get here? We've been waiting forever!" she complained to her mother, Loveblossom, who simply let out a slightly annoyed sigh, as both Peppermintkit and her sister, Crystalkit, had been complaining for a while now, as Razorstar had been called off to do something right before the ceremony. Peppermintkit, not satisfied by that response, just fluffed out her fur, which was reddish-orange tabby, and turned to her sister.

"When I become a warrior, I want my name to be Crystalshard..." Crystalkit mewed absentmindedly, her pristine white fur sparkling, and her lovely powder-blue eyes clouded from being "off in another world". "And I want mine to be Peppermintslash!" exclaimed Peppermintkit, snapping Crystalkit out of her daydream. They both had an energetic conversation about their warrior dreams, getting their minds off Razorstar's absence. Their chat was interrupted by a loud shout of "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the Highgem for a clan meeting!". It was Razorstar, who had returned. His silver, almost metallic, fur shined under the bright sunlight. His harsh grey-green eyes scanned around the clearing as cats crowded around the Highgem.

"I have bad news and good news," he stated. There were murmurs all around the clearing. "The bad news is that I have just returned from an urgent examination of the borders. There are wolves wandering into our territory. On top of that, our relationship with EmeraldClan is faltering, they are accusing us of stealing prey and have attacked a warrior on our territory, Rushbattle. He is currently in the medicine den, where Soulsilence is taking care of him." The clan cats were whispering and fearful, worried by Razorstar's words. Peppermintkit, Crystalkit, and Loveblossom let out a collective gasp, as Rushbattle was Peppermintkit and Crystalkit's father. Loveblossom's heart ached for her mate.

"However," Razorstar continued. "The good news is that we are naming three more apprentices!" He flicked his tail for Peppermintkit to come up onto the Tallgem. Her eyes crackled with excitement she could barely contain. "Peppermintkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Peppermintpaw. Your mentor will be Whispersage. I hope Whispersage will pass down all he knows on to you." He nodded for Whispersage to come up onto the Tallgem. "Whispersage, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Brokenheart, and you have shown yourself to be patient and mighty. You will be the mentor of Peppermintpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Whispersage and Peppermintpaw touched noses, and heard the clan shout her name.

And so the ceremony went on, Crystalpaw being mentored by Hopefulnight, and another new apprentice, Fluffpaw, becoming the medicine apprentice. Crystalpaw and Peppermintpaw dashed to their mother, about to burst from happiness. "We're gonna be the best warriors there ever was!" squealed both of the two new apprentices at the same time. Loveblossom smiled. "Yes, I'm sure you two will be..." However, Loveblossom was mostly thinking about Rushbattle. Her yellow-blue eyes gazed up to the sky, hoping StarClan wouldn't take him yet. But the two apprentices didn't notice and kept joyfully bouncing around, rambling about how great they were going to be. Finally, after a while, the two calmed down and rushed to their mentors.

Whispersage peered down at his apprentice. Likewise, Peppermintpaw stared back up at him expectantly. "How about we learn the territory first?" suggested Whispersage, breaking the silence. Peppermintpaw excitedly nodded, and they padded out of camp.


	2. Chapter 2: Outside the Camp

_**AN: Yes, I am adding two chapters at once, before anybody even has know this fic exists. I wrote both chapters around the same time, but they're two different chapters. Once again, I do not own Warriors or Hidden Prophices. Erin Hunter owns Warriors, Tainted Purification owns Hidden Prophices. EDIT: Fixed the wall-of-text issue.**_

Peppermintpaw's head was spinning from all the things out of the camp. It had so many smells, and it was so pristine and wonderful! Whispersage led her through the section of forest they were in, which was populated by silvery birch trees. Whispersage's fur was almost opposite of the birch trees, being deep black with silver specks. Peppermintpaw thought it somewhat resembled Silverpelt. When they reached the edge of the forest, they leaped over a thin river, and finally, Whispersage stopped. "Do you smell that?" he questioned.

Peppermintpaw took a good sniff. She ignored her own scent of peppermint and the scent of RubyClan, and could smell something odd that definitely reeked of cat."This is the border between DiamondClan and RubyClan. Never cross it, for that is against the warrior code. The river here flows into their territory, where it widens into a large lake. Crocodiles live in the lake, but they almost never swim up into our territories because the river's too narrow up here." he informed, and led her away.

He led her to another border, which was part of a few grassy hills, however, just outside the border was an ominous black forest with deep grey fog flowing out from it. Merely seeing it made Peppermintpaw feel uneasy, and she thought she could feel a thousand unearthly eyes filled with malice stare from it. "This is the border to outside the territories. No matter what, never go into that forest. It is a... portal, of some kind that leads to the Dark Forest." Whispersage warned. "The Dark... Forest?" Peppermintpaw asked. "It's where all the evil cats go when they die. It also has seven ghostly demons haunting it, who each have powers and can possess cats. It's said that a few apprentices had wandered into this forest, and only one came back. However, the one that did... didn't come back whole." he mewed, also unsettled by being so close to it.

"Who was the cat that survived?" Peppermintpaw wondered out loud. "That would be the elder, Ghostcry." answered Whispersage, who was beginning to pull Peppermintpaw away from the border, as he could no longer handle being near it. Peppermintpaw shuddered. She remembered seeing Ghostcry when exploring the camp. Ghostcry's eyes were pitch black voids with ooze leaking from them, though she had tiny blue pupils. Some parts of her didn't seem tangible, and at times she would let out a sudden moan of agony, though when questioned, she would say she felt nothing. Peppermintpaw didn't want to think about the same happening to her.

They both ran away from that border, all too pleased to be getting away from it. Whispersage took Peppermintpaw to a gaping opening in a small mountain on the edge of the territory, on the side that led to the Glitterstones. She peered inside, and could see thousands of glowing crystals in various colors. "These are the Crystal Caves," Whispersage stated. "Inside, there is an incredible amount of bats, which is a good source of fresh-kill for the clan. Also, in the deepest part of the cave, there's a pond where you can make wishes, with a lot of moss growing around it. Because this is the best source of moss in the territories, we have to allow cats of other clans in so they can gather it, but they have to be accompanied by a RubyClan warrior."

Whispersage then took Peppermintpaw to a very rocky area. There was a lot of lichen growing, but very little grass. She could smell another clan scent. "This is Ruggedrocks, the border between EmeraldClan and RubyClan. We shouldn't linger around here long, EmeraldClan patrols may take us hanging around here of proof we've been stealing their prey, even though we aren't." The ragged terrain was much easier to climb down than up, so they got down quickly.

It was beginning to get dark out, however, so they started heading back to the camp. Peppermintpaw was still awestruck by everything she had seen, though she was very tired from all the walking they had done. She padded up to her sister, who was also exhausted. "Hopefulnight nearly trained me dead, and I still can't land a hit on her!" Crystalpaw lamented. "I got to see the territories today!" exclaimed Peppermintpaw. Crystalpaw stopped being sad immediately and asked Peppermintpaw to tell her about absolutely everything she saw. As they talked and talked, they laid into the soft, springy moss of the apprentice den and fell asleep.

Their rest was cut short by a horrific yowling that woke up the whole camp. Ghostcry was wide awake, and in the middle of the camp. When everyone left their dens to see what it was, they were greeted with a terrifying sight. Ghostcry was digging her claws into her "eyes" and pulling them out. Ooze splattered all over the ground. Ghostcry began screeching an ominous statement over and over again, as she continued the gruesome act. "THIS CLAN'S FATE IS DEATH! THIS CLAN'S FATE IS DEATH!" she yowled over and over again. Everyone was frozen by fear - or possibly, some other force. However, once all the goo was out, Ghostcry collapsed, her paws still inside her empty eye sockets. "Unless you find the one who holds its fate upon her chest..." she whispered, though loud enough for the clan to hear. She then stopped moving entirely. The cats suddenly found themselves no longer paralyzed, and Soulsilence slinked over to Ghostcry's still body. "She's dead." Soulsilence announced. The clan was traumatized by what they had just witnessed. Most of the clan decided to sit vigil, though many of the apprentices, including Crystalpaw and Peppermintpaw, only knew her as "that really creepy elder", so they decided not to and went to sleep, though their rest was filled with nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3: Bat-Catching n' Mouse-Chasing

Peppermintpaw hid in the Training Den, a deep underground cavern next to the leader's den. She had decided to slip behind an old, battered rock. The musty scent of it disgusted her. Suddenly, she heard pawsteps from the entrance. She peeked over and saw Whispersage. "Perfect..." she mumbled. As soon as he was within her range, Peppermintpaw scrambled up the damaged stone and leaped at him. Whispersage saw her coming, but didn't even try to get out of her range. She had misjudged her jump and landed face-first in the flattened soil, scuffing it into piles. Whispersage let out a chuckle and helped her up, much to her embarrassment. "Trying to sneak attack your mentor without proper training?" he asked playfully. It had been quite a few days since the Ghostcry incident, and RubyClan was mostly to normal. The hysteria had died down for the most part, and apprentices were learning again. Peppermintpaw had gotten a lot of up-close battle training, just in case the wolves attacked. However, she had learned nothing about sneaking and hunting.

"Then teach me! Teach me!" Peppermintpaw squealed, covering her shame of misjumping. So, Whispersage told her all about hunting. (AN: I didn't feel like typing a wall of text about how to hunt, and I'm pretty sure you don't wanna read one, either.) After a while, Peppermintpaw felt she had memorized most of the things she needed to know, and they set out from the camp.

"So, where do you think we should go for your first hunt?" Whispersage asked. Peppermintpaw was quick in her answer. "The Crystal Caves!" she mewed excitedly. So they set off towards the Crystal Caves. Part-way there, Whispersage picked up a scent of mouse. "Stop," he whispered. "Do you smell that?" Peppermintpaw nodded. "Remember what I told you about the hunting crouch, how you have to get down silently?" Peppermintpaw nodded again. "Try it now to catch that mouse." Peppermintpaw dropped down into a somewhat awkward hunting crouch, trying to keep her tail from lashing. She snuck up closer to the mouse, and then leaped at it. However, the mouse got free of her paws, and started to scurry away. Peppermintpaw knew she shouldn't, but chased after it anyway. It squeezed into a tiny hole, and Peppermintpaw gave up.

Seeing the disappointment in Peppermintpaw's eyes when she returned, he decided not to scold her just yet. "Come on, we're almost to the Crystal Caves." So they kept going, and eventually they made their way to the Caves. "How exactly do you catch bats?" Whispersage questioned, trying to see if she remembered. "When they're asleep, you snag them off the ceiling, and when they're awake, you leap up and hook your claws into their wings!" she answered. "Good! Now try it!" he said. Peppermintpaw slunk into the cave as quiet as she could. She kept looking down at her feet nervously, worried she'd kick a rock and wake up the bats already.

Luckily, however, she didn't, and she finally reached a place where plenty of bats were sleeping. She hopped up and snatched a bat, her claws killing it before it could make a sound. She dropped on the cave floor and caught a few more, before she missed and woke the whole cave up. She started leaping at the flying masses, her face being battered by the onslaught. She did manage to catch one from the group, but that was it. However, she had caught a good amount for her first hunt, and felt proud of herself.

"Good job, Peppermintpaw!" Whispersage praised. They carried the bats back to the camp, where they were met with an amazing sight. Crystalpaw was standing in camp, and all of the cats were staring at her. Her alabaster tail was long and fluffy, yet flickered like fire, with a glorious powder blue tip. Her eyes seemed to be filled with power, and her ears were rimmed with gold. Her claws and teeth seemed to be flickering with pure energy. Crystalpaw spotted Peppermintpaw in the crowd, and managed to get to her.

"Peppermintpaw, you know Ghostcry's prophecy? StarClan visited me in my dreams last night and told me I was the 'one who held this clan's fate upon my chest'! They gave me powers and special training, and said I'm destined to prevent a war from breaking out between the clans and stop the seven demons of the dark forest!" mewed Crystalpaw, hyper and excited as can be. "I caught a bunch of bats-" Peppermintpaw started, but nobody listened as they were back to cheering and pestering Crystalpaw.

Life went on after that, everything Peppermintpaw achieved being overshined by her sister. Every hunting patrol Crystalpaw was in only got prey from her, because nobody else had a chance to catch anything. In border scuffles, everything was resolved in mere seconds - thanks to Crystalpaw. Peppermintpaw was jealous, though happy for her sister. Sometimes her jealousy made her feel like there was a demon whispering in her head. But life went on.


	4. Chapter 4: Wolf Attack

_**AN: Another two-chapters-at-once post. Oh, and it's a bit of a short one. EDIT: Removed the StarClan paragraph, and I'm gonna rewrite all of chapters 1-4 later. The StarClan part is going to be added in as an intermission, and it's not as rushed. Also, I feel this chapter is too small. Blah.**_

Peppermintpaw was sleeping cold and alone. All the cats in the den except her had moved close to where Crystalpaw slept. It felt like nobody realized she existed. She snapped out of the world of her dreams when she heard a frightened scream: "WOLF ATTACK!" The apprentices and warriors rushed from their dens. They viciously attacked the wolves, though most cats were no match for them. However, with Crystalpaw on their side, RubyClan was winning. When only one wolf was left, the unthinkable happened. Crystalpaw was tired, and she fell down. In the few seconds of weakness, the wolf stepped on her, and crushed her skull with a sickening crack.

There were a few seconds - which felt like hours to the horrified clan cats - of silence and stillness, as they took in what happened, and the wolf made sure she was dead. Then, the cats began backing away, the look of horror frozen on their faces. The chosen one of the prophecy, dead right before their eyes. A few heartbeats passed in which nobody dared to speak or think. Then, suddenly, the air was torn with a screech, as Peppermintpaw leapt onto the wolf's back. It let out a yelp of agony as she raked her claws up his face. Then, as the wolf stumbled, yelping and in pain, she leapt down and raked her claws down its stomach, allowing blood to splurt out. It fell to the ground, now little more than a corpse.

Peppermintpaw walked over to her sister's body, her eyes an ocean of sadness. "No... Crystalpaw... Sis, wake up. Please! StarClan gave you powers, heal yourself! Please... don't die..." begged Peppermintpaw. There was no reply. "Sister, please... re-remember when we were kits? You s-said you wanted to be named C-crystalshard... Razorstar would give you your warrior name now... PLEASE! JUST DON'T DIE! DEAR STARCLAN, PLEASE!" There was still no reply. Peppermintpaw laid her face into her sisters soft fur, not caring that it was soaked in blood. "...please..."

"Y-you know, m-maybe if you had tried to help her instead of practically worshipping her, she wouldn't have died!" Peppermintpaw shouted, too hurt and sad to listen to anybody trying to calm her down. For the next few hours, she did nothing but bury her face into Crystalpaw's fur, whispering "no" over and over again.


	5. INTERMISSION: Starclan's Fear

_**AN: You may have noticed that my fic is not very good. That is a direct result of me writing it on the kindle. The longer it gets, the glitchier, and by chapter four, I was literally living off AutoCorrect because the typing was so tedious. But from now on, I am going to write my fanfiction on the computer, so it should be better now. I'm also going to rewrite the older chapters later.**_

The cats of StarClan were shocked and appalled by what they had just witnessed. Crystalpaw, the chosen one, had just died. This wasn't supposed to happen, Crystalpaw was supposed to become leader and save the clans! But right before their eyes, their view of the clan revealed Crystalpaw's horrific death. A beautiful white cat with a black moon on her head stared down into the pool which reflected a view of RubyClan.

"No… I gave her everything I had… Powers, beauty, skill…" she sadly whispered, her purple eyes filled with worry for the clans. A ghostly white she stepped up to her. "The future's as foggy as the Dark Forest, Moonshimmer. I can only hope that the fog is just our vision being obscured, and not… something else." As if the words "Dark Forest" were a summons, a deep red cat strode into their view, obscuring the pool. "You couldn't have done anything to help her. You know that. You all know that. You shouldn't have even tried." he mewed, somewhat tauntingly. "You should be pleased. You aren't even RubyClan anyway. You could just let it collapse without doing a thing, and your clan would rise and prosper without RubyClan in the way."

"You… you jerk! You Dark Forest demon ghost cats are so mean!" Moonshimmer snapped. The ghostly she narrowed her pale blue eyes, flexing her claws in and out. However, she felt that he could not take the demon down. The red tom narrowed his eyes, which were pure black, except for his pupils. "Do you even know who I am? Can you even put your thoughts where your claws are?" he challenged.

"Yeah I do! You are Sloth, a really mean Dark Forest demon ghost! And I'll have you know, I'll make sure there always will be four clans in the forest!" she hissed, becoming angered by his somewhat condescending tone. "Nobody calls me Sloth anymore. They call me Starless now. But yes, it's _so_ important to have four clans in the forest. So they can keep on fighting and fighting and working and working – and never realize it would be better to not need to do anything at all." he mocked.

Another she, a purple-furred cat with a white star on her head, had her rainbow eyes narrowed in displeasure. She had been quiet for a while, as the death of Crystalpaw was shocking. "OHMIGOSH, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MADE THE WOLVES ATTACK, WEREN'T YOU?!" she demanded. "Aha, foolish, foolish Stargleam. Do you know anything at all about the things that lurk in the Dark Forest? You seem to believe I'd actually do work myself. No, simply the wolf attack was a lucky break for us."

"I FOUGHT YOU OFF BEFORE; I CAN FIGHT YOU OFF AGAIN!" Stargleam threatened, not at all intimidated. "Have you forgotten? You aren't immune to other cats anymore. You lose your powers in death. Your "Jesus" as you called it, cannot help you anymore. Nothing can help you anymore. As the chosen one is dead, the Dark Forest will reign." he purred teasingly, though with a hint of anger to his voice. "And you, Ghostcry? You won't even be able to fight us, or else we will destroy the half of your soul that we still have. You StarClan cats should just give up and save yourself the effort."

Ghostcry, taken aback by these words, slipped away, the fear evident in her eyes. Starless, while he was lazy when it came to actual work, had a way with words, and if he tried hard enough, he could crush all of their hope by simply speaking. However, luckily for StarClan, today was not one of the days he would make the effort.

"This conversation is growing tiring. I've grown bored with your constant 'we can do it!' attitude. Maybe another day, you'll understand how futile it is." Starless slunk back into the shadows, leaving the StarClan cats worried and shaken. Before, it would have been easy to bat away his words, but seeing Crystalpaw, the one they had put their hope into, die a tragic death, it wasn't so easy to pretend they would get through in the end.

"SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TAKE CRYSTALPAW TO STARCLAN OR STARLESS MIGHT HURT HER!" Stargleam exclaimed. Moonshimmer nodded. "I'll do it." she mewed, and then she plunged through the pool, falling through the misty waters and into the realm of the living. However, she made herself invisible to the living cats. She padded over to Crystalpaw's spirit, who was dazed and trying to get up. Moonshimmer helped her up, and carried her up to StarClan, both of them stricken with sadness.


End file.
